((A long grassy knoll sat ahead, rolling hills with a beautiful view of the valleys below. Although a few lone trees spotted the meadow, it was primarily lush green grasses and the dots of purple and pink wildflowers. A rabbit-like creature with a tan pelt scurried through the grass before disappearing into some unseen burrow beneath.

It was just after nightfall, the skies blue–but not so dark yet that it was hard to see, and the grass was still warm from the lingering heat of the earlier sun. A crudely-painted banner stood beside a pink tark'ee with paint-speckled fur. "Welcome one, welcome all, to the nocturnal gathering contest!" Rose Thorn announced bravely.))

Shenzi, a black tsabhua with markings like a hyena shot her partner, a belemoid named Sharkbait, a stern look. "We're expected to beat them?" She mouthed, referring to the two other sets of contestants:

A pair of kukri and what appeared to be–a single gacha imp with a pup. Nanny, an amber koi common kukuri, was a massive powerhouse of a dove with teeming muscles. She stood alongside Doe, a small white female companion who lacked eyes. Then, Towering above all of them was a blue shi imp the size of a monolith. Sitting on his forehead was a tiny prism imp wearing a backpack larger than his whole body.

"The rules are quite simple," Rose Thorn smiled. "You'll have ten minutes to forage and bring everything you collected back here to be judged. The winner will take home this–" He revealed on a pink wing, an underwater respirator.

"Damn!" Shenzi recognized it suddenly–the same one that Sharkbait had been wearing before he'd been attacked by the shark. Doe cast Nanny a curious look, to which she gave a haughty laugh and replied, "Oh, it's not about the prize my dear, it's about winning!" The kukuri cracked her knuckles eagerly, closing her fingers tightly around her held basket. "You think it'll fit you?" Zephyr smiled up at the tiny prism on his nose with an unmistakable adoration. But the scuba mask was self-evidently too big for him–it was nearly as tall as he was.

"Well, without further ado," the pink tark'ee shook his head, "On your marks… Get set… Go!" Sharkbait and Shenzi bolted, racing towards the only tree in the lone field–the most probable sign of forage. Nanny outstretched a fluffy paw, accepting the blind doe's hand into her's. "This way, my dear," she said gently, leading the pearl dove towards the grassy peak of the midnight hill ahead. "Ready?" Zephyr gave a big smile, consulting the prism. He held on tightly to one ear, and then the shi took off with a series of giant, careful steps.

Although many of the inhabitants were nocturnal, able to use the advantage of the dim light to excel their vision, the fields were a sparse place for gathering, making the task more difficult than it would be, say, in a flourishing forest or a vegetable garden. If only it had been a hunting contest–the brown blurs of rabbits reappeared endlessly across the fields before dipping back into the grasses.

"Anything?" Shenzi gasped, approaching the much faster Sharkbait. "Ginkgo leaves!" He grinned wide at the fan-shaped growths from the tips of the tree branches. "Leaves?" Shenzi frowned deeply, not considering those to be foraging. "For teas!" The shaman insisted, "Help me collect some!" They weren't worth much–even if the shaman was fully preoccupied with them: It wasn't often that they traveled to Mireh, and he wanted to restore his stock.

"Look at that!" Nanny gasped, the high grass revealing a small pond of water flourishing with plant life. Doe couldn't look–she was blind, but a deep inhale revealed the earthy scents of waterhearts, lilypads of pink leaves floating upon the water. Nanny carefully picked one up, turned it over to examine it, and–"Frog!" She yelped, the green blur croaking as she frantically dropped it back.

"Did you two find anything?" It was the deep, yet calm voice of Zephyr. He overshadowed the two xiunari like a skyscraper, blotting out the light of the full moon. "Just some leaves," Shenzi said, defensively narrowing her eyes at them while Sharkbait's nimble paws worked to harvest the delicate structures.

Zephyr raised an eyebrow. "You don't need to be suspicious of me," he said gingerly. He gently plucked the tiny prism off of his ear, and set him down. "I can see high above. If you can help me watch Pipsqueak so I can explore, I'll help you." Even though Shenzi was the hardened survivor of the duo, Sharkbait was a touch apprehensive as well. "Help us?" He breathed, blinking at the prism's iridescent coat. "Why?"

"Because the other team just collected three waterhearts, and you've just found leaves," he admitted. "And that mask isn't going to fit Pipsqueak." Sharkbait's eyes widened. "That's because it's mine!" He pointed out. Shenzi stiffened, unsure if this was cheating and weighing the options between the benefits of victory and the potential dangers of being caught. "You can form teams of up to four," the shi shrugged, "You're gonna want to, if you want your mask back."

He could see in the distance as Doe's white form was on the move with Nanny's white pelt, the two taking a long route towards trees at the very edge of the valley–likely to search for hanging witches or hole-os. The she-goat laughed happily, her body language professing confidence in their victory.

"Alright," Shenzi decided abruptly, "Pipsqueak, you can stay here and gather leaves, can't you?" The prism nodded. "Zephyr, you go searching for anything you can see from above – red flowers like poppies, anything like that." Then she turned to Sharkbait. "You–try to seek out those bushes, find out if they have berries or not."

And so – "For the first half results!" Rose Thorn announced to his imaginary audience, "Nanny and Doe have gathered three waterlily–worth two points each, for a total of eight! On the other hand, Sharkbait and Shenzi have only gathered ginkgo leaves, for a total of 2 points for one bushel. But we see an unsteady alliance forming – Will the teamwork with the gacha-imps pay off, or is the gathering contest already won?" He dropped his fake mic, grinning wildly at the plain grass hill.